In the past this team would have been making cold calls, though today there are much more effective ways to prospect. Organize Sales Development Reps by territories that match the field and telesales reps, because it’s vital for them to build relationships with their sales teammates. One Sales Development Rep typically can support a maximum of 2-5 quotacarrying Account Executives. If you sell very large deals, it’s possible you could have even a 1-to-1 ratio or 2-to-1 Sales Development Reps per Account Executive and still be VERY profitable. By the way, while adding a dedicated Sales Development function can vastly improve your outbound prospecting results, we’re not saying your quotacarrying salespeople should not do any new business generation — far from it! However, Account Executive closers shouldn’t spend their time making cold calls. They should focus on higher-potential sources of business: a small list of targeted accounts at which they can build relationships, current clients, or their own past dead opportunities. 2. Market Response Reps qualify incoming leads that reach the company through the website or phone (usually driven either by internet search, word-of-mouth or marketing programs), and route qualified opportunities to the appropriate quotacarrying salesperson. A rule of thumb is that for every 400 leads per month that require human attention, a company needs one Market Response Representative. By removing unqualified opportunities out of the pipeline early in the sales cycle, Market Response determines which accounts will be followed up by the sales force and thereby paves the way for increased close rates by the field and telesales, who spend their time only on pre-qualified opportunities.